Richard Gordon's comic-horror production HORROR HOSPITAL (1973) -- directed by Antony Balch and starring Michael Gough, Robin Askwith, Vanessa Shaw and Dennis Price -- was acquired for the U.S. by Hallmark Releasing in late '73 and retitled EASTWORLD to capitalize on the success of Michael Crichton's WESTWORLD. The ad above is from Kokomo, IN where American International was handling Hallmark's releases, while the ad below is from Poughkeepsie, NY (Both are dated January 25, 1974).
Simultaneous with the film's release as EASTWORLD, Hallmark was also circulating prints under the title COMPUTER KILLERS, using the same ad campaign.
Middletown, RI - February 8, 1974
Two months later (April 19, 1974) the film surfaced in Louisville, KY as DEATH WARD #13, a title Hallmark had used the previous year for S.F. Brownrigg's DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT.
HORROR HOSPITAL was re-released in 1978, despite being sold to television two years earlier, this time under its original title and with a tag line that took aim at another Michael Crichton film, COMA (also 1978). The ad above is from St. Louis, MO on December 1, 1978.
